Clamping device

ABSTRACT

A CLAMPING DEVICE FOR CLAMPING A TOWEL OR THE LIKE FLEXIBLE MATERIAL AND COMPRISING AN ENDLESS BODY, PREFERABLY PARABOLIC-SHAPED, DEFINING AN OPEN SPACE THEREWITHIN AND AN ELONGATED MEMBER EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID BODY ACROSS THE SPACE DEFINED THEREWITHIN AND HAVING ELONGATED SLOTS IN OPPOSITE END PORTIONS THEREOF THROUGH WHICH OPPOSED PORTIONS OF SAID BODY EXTEND, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE PROXIMATE ENDS OF THE ELONGATED SLOTS BEING LESS THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE OPPOSED PORTIONS OF THE ENDLESS BODY, WHEREBY THE ELONGATED MEMBER IS SLIDABLE RELATIVE TO THE ENDLESS BODY.

June 22, y1971 R, W BARNHARDT i CLAMPING DEVICEv Filed April 1o, 1969INVENTOR: ROHLHE W- ARNHAK VT BYMZE, gm M #mi ATTOR NEYS United StatesPatentfOlce 3,585,693 CLAMPING DEVICE t Ronnie William Barnhardt,-141Swnk St., Concord, N.C. 28025 Filed Apr. 10, 1969, Ser. No. 814,915 Int.Cl. A44b 2 1/00 U.S. Cl. 24-,263FC 2 Claims ABSTRACT oF THEDISCLosURE lY A clampmg devlce for' Clampl-ng'a towel'or thehke "1. cally downwardlyand convergeinto an apex at,the bottom which is disposed directly belowthe center of top flexible material and 'comprising an endless body,preferably parabolic-shaped, dening an open space therewithf in and anelongated member extending transversely of said body across the spacedeiined therewithinvand` having elongated slots in opposite end portionsthereofthrough which opposed portions of said bodyextend, the distancebetween the proximate ends of the elongatedslots -being less than thedistance between the opposed lportions of` the endless body, whereby theelongated member is slidable relative to the endless body.

This inventionrelatestova clamping device and more particularly lto aclamping device forI grasping a towel, sweater or the-likeilexiblematerial; i

Frequently during many different activities, it is highly desirable'tohave readilyV available a'towel, sweater, or

3,585,693 Patented June 22., 1971 d lIn general, the clamping devices12, 13 comprise endless bodies 14, 15 defining open spaces therewithinand elongated members 16, 17 extending transversely of the endlessbodies 14, 15, respectively, across the spaces defined therewithin andbeing slidable relative thereto.

`More specifically, the clamping device 12 is particu- Ylarly adaptedfor clamping hand towels and other relativelysrn'all items of ilexiblematerial and endless body 14, FIGS.,2 and 3, are preferably generallyparabolicshaped with a generally ilattened top 14a and sides 14b, 14Cwhich are integral with top 14a and curve symmetri- 14a. This parabolicshape accommodates a bunchng of the flexible material n the center orapex while lstill applying a clamping force across substantially the full with of the material.

A ring member 20 is connected to top 14a at the center thereof forpermitting the clamping device 12 to be readilyV attached to a suitablesupport, such as agolf cart handle as in FIG. 1, by an appropriate'bracket means 21. The elongated member 16 is preferably an elongatedkbar member having elongated slots 22, 23 disposed in opposite endportions thereof, and the' distance between the proximate ends of theelongated slots 22, 23 is less than, the proximate distance betweensides 14b,

14e of the endless body 14 except at points closely adjaother ilexiblemateriahFor instance, diringa -game of golf a towel is often usedv todry the hands of a player; a club face or grip and thelike, .andaccordingly, it is desirable to be able to attach'a towel in areadily accessi-Y` ble place on the golf cart or golf' bagfr "useduriiigA thegame. Similarly but less frequent, there is a need for a sweater, jacketor the like to be lreadily available for use by a golfer or personengaged in "a similar activity.

Many attempts have been made heretofore to provide clamping devices fortowels, sweaters or the like :flexible material, but these devices haveproven to be unsatisfactory because they cause damage to the materialbeing clamped, they have poor clamping action, or considerable dificultyis encountered in inserting and removing the flexible material from thedevice.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is the provision of a clampingdevice that overcomes the aforementioned deficiencies heretoforeencountered and one which does not cause damage to the material beingclamped, provides excellent clamping action, and may have towels,sweaters or the like flexible material easily inserted into or removedtherefrom.

Some of the objects and advantages of the invention having been stated,others will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, in which- FIG. 1 is a perspective of agolf cart and golfbag cam'ed thereby with each having attached,respectively, thereto a clamping device in accordance -with thisinvention for clamping a towel, sweater or the like flexible material;

lFIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective of the clamping device attached tothe golf cart handle of FIG. 1;

IFIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 3 3 of FIG.2; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective of the clamping device attached to thegolf bag, of FIG. 1.

Referring in detail to the drawings wherein like numerals have been usedwhere possible to refer to like parts, there is generally shown in FIG.1 a golf cart 10 and golf bag 11 carried thereby. Clamping devices 12and 13 of this invention are attached thereto and have a towel T and asweater S clamped therein, respectively.

c'entthe apex of sides 14b, 14c. The elongated bar mem.- ber 16 extendstransversely of the endless body 14 with sides 14b,14c ofthe endlessbody 14 extending through the elongated slots 22, 23 whereby theelongated bar member 16 is slidable relative to the endless body 14 andin particular, slidable in a direction toward and away` from the-apex ofthe parabolic-shaped endless body 14 to clamp 4the towel between the barmember 16 and the sides 14b, 14C at the apex thereof. The portion of theelongated bar member 16 between sides 14b, 14e of the endless body 14 ispreferably provided with undulated, irregular or serrated opposite sideedges 24, 2 5 for increasing the frictional contact with the flexiblematerial clamped in the device 12. Preferably, these serrated side edges24, 25 project outwardly beyond the endless body 14, as best shown inFIG. 3, to deilect the flexible material outwardly of the endless body14 to improve the clamping action of the device 12.

It is readily noted that the elongated bar member 16 divides the openspace defined within the endless body 14 into two portions. A towel orother like flexible material is claimped into the clamping device 12 bythreading the flexible material through one portion of the open spaceand back through the other portion whereby the llexible materialisclamped between the elongated bar member 16 and the endless body 14 byfrictional contact therewith. As'y stated above, the apex of theparabolic-shaped endless body 14 provides for bunching of the llexiblematerial between the elongated bar member 16 and the endless body 14 andalso lthe converging sides 14b,l'14"c guide elongatedk bar member 16 inits movement along body 14 while maintaining the elongated bar memberI16 substantially horizontal across the endless body 14. The flexiblematerial is easily removed from the device 12 by sliding the elongatedbar member 16 in a direction away from the apex of the parabolic-shapedendless body 14 whereupon the flexible material may be easily dethreadedfrom the device 12. It will be further noted that gravity will act onthe flexible material and clamping device 12 to maintain proper clampingof the flexible material during use of the device 12.

Referring now to FIG. 4, clamping device 13 is shown attached to thegolf bag 11 of FIG. 1 and differs primarily in size and shape from theclamping device 12. Endless body 15 of clamping device 13 has agenerally upwardly curved or domed top 15a and is of larger size thanclamping device 12 for accommodating relatively large items of flexiblematerial, such as sweaters, jackets, and coats. Endless body 15 is alsopreferably generally parabolicshap'ed similarly to endless body 14 withsides 15b, 15C converging downwardly to an apex. A ring member 30 isconnected to the center of top 15a for attachment of endless body 15 togolf bag 11 by attachment means 31.

The elongated bar member 17 is structurally similar to the elongated barmember 16 of clamping device 12 except larger in size and includeselongated slots 32, 33 disposed i opposite end portions thereof with thedistance between the proximate ends of the elongated slots 32, 33 beingless than the proximate distance between sides 15b, 15C of the endlessbody 15 except at points closely adjacent the apex of sides 15b, 15C.The elongated bar member y17 extends transversely of the endless body 15with sides 15b, 15c of the endless body 15 extending through theelongated slots 32, 33 whereby the elongated bar member 17 is slidablerelative to the endless body 15 and in particular, slidable in adirection toward and away from the apex of the endless body 15. Also,opposite sides 34, 35 of elongated bar member 17 are preferably serratedto provide an increased frictional grip on the exible material.

Clamping device 13 is used the same as clamping device 12 and alsoprovides for bunching of material in the center thereof while stillapplying a clamping force thereto across substantially the full width ofthe device.

In the drawing and specication there have been set forth preferredembodiments of the invention, and although specifc terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation:

What I claim is:

1. A clamping device for clamping a -towel or other exible material to agolf cart, golf bag, or the like and comprising an endless bodyldefining an open space therewithin, and including a parabolic shapedportion dening an apex, means connected to the body opposite said apexfor attaching said clamping device to a support, and a linear elongatedmember extending transversely of said body across the space denedtherewithin and having elongated slots in opposite end portions thereofthrough which opposed portions of said body extend, the distance betweenthe proximate ends of the elongated slots being less than -the proximatedistance between the opposed portions of the endless body except at apoint closely adjacent said apex whereby ythe elongated member isslidable relative to the endless body in a direction toward and awayfrom said apex to provide for bunching and uniform clamping of thellexible material between said apex and said elongated member, saidelongated member including opposite side edges facing outwardly fromsaid open space, both of said side edges including serrations adapted toengage the llexible material to increase the frictional contacttherebetween.

2. The clamping device as defined in claim 1 wherein said serrationsproject laterally beyond the endless body to deflect the materialclamped outwardly of the endless body to improve the clamping action.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,873,219 s/1932 Seibert 24-1962,938,254 5/1960 Gayiord 24-263(HEs)x 3,119,533 1/1964 Kirmes 224 29(.2)3,121,272 2/1964 Matthews 24-196 3,160,937 12/1964 Nickason 24-263(HES)ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner U.s. C1. X.R.

